Looking for after theatre in the West Village on a Sunday night -- 9:30 or so, near Bleecker, Christopher, 7th Ave. Not looking for "big deal" dining, but good and nice atmosphere.
How about AOC, The Garage, Villa Pazzo Enoteca? Other suggestions?

I have never been disappointed at Palma, look at the website and see if this is what you had in mind. http://palmanyc.com

If you are going in warm weather be sure to request to sit in the back garden, it's a really nice treat. The staff is friendly, the food is very good and the atmosphere is not stuffy/pretentious.

Looks nice, but I guess the suggestions I gave didn't indicate price. I really don't want to pay over $250 for the two of us, in fact like to keep it well under half of that. But thanks.
Oh, and unless it's like yesterday, I don't expect to sit outside the first week of February.

Take a look at menupages...Looks like entrees at Palma are in low-mid 20's, so depending on what you opt to drink you could stay within your budget of $125ish for the two of you.

http://tinyurl.com/suj7w

Neo - you didn't bother to mention when you would be going, and some people do plan ahead so it wasn't totally out of the realm of possibility that you might be there at a time to enjoy the garden; sorry I mentioned it.

And you can certainly dine there for under $250 for two!! In fact, 4 of us went there last fall for under that. How hungry are you exactly?? lol

If you feel Palma is too much money for this particular evening, you might want to re-think some of the other choices on your list, i.e. The Garage (very good btw) will set you back more.

I'm probably too late to help you, but I love AOC and it's very reasonable.

Allright Neo, if you heed this, you’ll never say I’ve never ever provided you with any good travel/dining suggestion.

About a 10-minuted walk from 7th/W4th would be The Little Owl along Bedford, south of Christopher. They serve one of the city’s best pork chop the size of a child’s head. The crispy chicken entree and the meatball slider appetizer are all very good. The restaurant has the size, look and ambiance of a very local neighborhood kind of place. The wine list looked thin, but, not many seem to know this – free corkage on BYO. Need at least 2-3 weeks advance reservation for a week-end table, but walk-ins have the bar with 4 tall stools dining available without reservation. Easily under $120 (T and T included, BYO) for two.

If you are willing to walk a bit, then I 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Bill's suggestion of Little Owl - amazing.

That would work; it's not too far from where you'll be at all and you'll get more enough to eat while staying in your budget.

People were eating outside at the cafes in New York yesterday. It was freaky.

Snack Taverna- great new wave/rustic greek food, hip but not achingly so, genial, smart service. 63 Bedford at Morton (a quarter block west of 7th Avenue, 1 block south of Bleecker.) Probably the restaurant we went to the most this past year - never had a bad dish.

Little Owl is on opentable - very small, only 10 tables - a tough reservation but you may get lucky. We have a table this Saturday night - I'll report back.

Moustache - terrific Middle Eastern food at 90 Bedford (between Barrow and Grove).

Home on Cornelia between Bleecker and W. 4th also Le Gigot right up the street.

There's a new Peruvian chicken place right on 7th Avenue and Grove called Pardo's that got a good review in Times $25 and under section this week - haven't been yet. Also a nice little Mexican place, Mercadito Grove on the corner of 7th and Grove - terrific soft tacos, good margaritas, a cute, homey little place.

So many choices . . . .

First, Margo, I did not mean to offend with the line about February, and for some reason you sound offended. I'm well aware that I didn't mention when, just used the opportunity to mention that 70 weather in New York yesterday. No problem. Did my comment that we wouldn't be eating outside in February somehow offend you? Sorry.

But what am I missing here? I looked at the website for Palma --www.palmanyc.com. All it shows for dinner is fixed price at $85 per person. Add three drinks between the two of us and we're at $200 absolute minimum. Add tax and tip and we're over $250, and that doesn't even allow for the best sounding entrees that have $10 to $20 surcharges added! I see nothing on their website for any ala carte menu other than for lunch, although I do see that on the menupages. Maybe it no longer exists? It appears from their website that it's $85 per person or nothing.

I looked at The Garage menu. I see great entrees for teens and low 20's. Normally we'd only do two courses each (at most). I'm looking at about $90 to $100 for both of us with the same three drinks, or $ 125 or so with tax and tip. But even if for some strange reason we both ordered the MOST EXPENSIVE appetizer -- a lobster quesadilla @ $16.50, the MOST EXPENSIVE entree at $32.50, and any dessert (all at $7), our total would still only be $56 each -- that's almost $30 less per person than dinner at Palma. Is my math wrong or what am I missing? The jazz sounds like a nice touch there also.

Bill Boy, The Little Owl does sound interesting, but I see Open Table shows no availability for our Sunday night (Feb. 4). I may pursue that.

Neo you have some nice choices here but if you want to re-check the Palma menu click on "menu" and then "dinner" on the website, (maybe you clicked "farmhouse"? which is the little house in the back of the garden that is a flat rate per person) Or try this and see if it works: http://palmanyc.com/menu3.html Pastas are under $18 and other entrees are about $18 - $23

No, I certainly don't get offended by a response on a travel forum, but you sounded a bit sarcastic like "you should have known I was going in February and how stupid that you mentioned the garden, I don't expect to sit out there in February". A bit annoying when people are trying to help you. Anyway no harm done. Any of the above suggestions will offer a nice after theater dining experience - enjoy!

Margo, if you interpreted "unless it's like yesterday, I don't expect to sit outside the first week of February" as "you should have known I was going in February and how stupid that you mentioned the garden", then you have a serious problem on your hands. There was nothing sarcastic about my comment at all, except for some odd reason in your mind.

OK, I just went to the website again and still had the same problem, but you are right. First I clicked on Farmhouse (for some reason I always seem to work backwards) and got first a fixed price brunch menu, but then went to the heading and clicked dinner and that fixed price one is all I could come up with, and it didn't say anything on it about "Farmhouse". It seems that after you click Farmhouse there is no way to bring up the ala carte dinner without clearing the whole site? Very weird website. When I cleared the site again, I was able to click dinner and get an ala carte menu, so I do see what you're saying -- quite a difference.

wow neo, you're making me feel like chopped liver here . . . .

mp, I must be having major website difficulties here tonight -- me, not the computer. I saw Bill Boy's mention of The Little Owl and went to check it out. When I came back here, I saw the reference to The Little Owl in your post which was centered on my screen and continued down thinking I was still reading Bill Boy's, so didn't even realize it was a different post, nor that you had BOTH suggested The Little Owl.
I'm checking out some of those other ones of yours now.
One new thought though, is it looks like we'll be doing a lot of Italian in our favorite Hell's Kitchen places many of our other after theatre nights, so a variation from Italian might be good, and we eat less and less pasta.
Le Gigot sounds French -- Home? Well, I'll go look.

Glad you found the dinner menu for Palma.

"Home" as suggested above by MP is another good option, it's also on Cornelia St. Don't go without a reservation. We haven't been there for dinner, just lunch which was very enjoyable.

You can check the menu here: http://www.recipesfromhome.com/

neo, i'm just teasing . . . really, the ones I mentioned are all good with varying degress of $ and atmosphere (pardo's is a step above a good coffee shop) moustache terrific homey, known by locals been there for years - Home/Le Gigot/Mercadito are all comfortable, neighborhood places. But Snack Taverna - now that's a place to dine - to dine well, at reasonable cost, with interesting wines in a wonderful atmosphere . . it's a grown-up restaurant. I think it's the best of all those mentioned here (reserving final judgement until next Saturday's dinner at Little Owl, of course!)

mmmmm. That leg of lamb with beans sounds awfully good on a cold February night at Le Gigot, and I seem to find nothing but raves for it.

Home looks interesting, but there sure are a lot of negative comments on menupages. And Zagat's gives it 20 for food compared to 25 at Le Gigot. Plus not too much into "cute" decor. It does sound more like a lunch place than a dinner place to me.

Meanwhile I'm still intriqued by The Garage, love the look of the interior and the idea of the jazz "supper club" feel. These two entrees alone sound wonderful:
Pork Tenderloin Medallions Wrapped with Bacon and served with Roasted Potatoes In a Roasted Pear and Pancetta Sauce
23.50
Oven Roasted Sesame Crusted Salmon Fresh Atlantic salmon pressed into black and white sesame seeds and topped with honey-ginger sauce. Served with whipped sweet potatoes and julienned spring vegetables.
22.50

Oh, decisions, decisions.